Christmas Gifts and Staff

If you decide to give your employees a cash bonus, this will be treated as taxable income and subject to tax and national insurance the same as other earnings.

Alternatively, if you decide on giving a Christmas gift to your staff, this will be exempt from any tax or national insurance payments. This is because it is classed as a trivial benefit. If a gift meets the following conditions, HMRC will normally accept that it is trivial:

There is a low cost in providing the gift

The gift is for general welfare purposes

The cost in administering the tax and NIC is disproportionate to the value of the tax/NIC.